A conference-event for the tenth anniversary of UTL6
On April 28, the Université du Temps Libre La Garde - Le Pradet celebrated its tenth anniversary with an exceptional event.
For this date, the program in September 2025 announced a surprise. It was revealed in early March by Philippe Granarolo, honorary president of UTL6. Following this revelation, a large audience gathered, as it was in front of a packed auditorium that the pianist and musicologist Florence Schaaff spoke.
Coming from Toulouse, where she lives, Florence Schaaff presented a “musical biography of Friedrich Nietzsche.” A pianist and musicologist, she spent her youth in the Toulon area and was a student at the Lycée Dumont d'Urville. Her music teacher, Monique Dautemer, was present in the audience to listen to her former student, as she was the one who had given her a passion for music.
The artist continued her studies at the Faculté des lettres d'Aix-en-Provence, then at the Sorbonne where she obtained a CAPES in music education. Settled in the Toulouse region for 24 years, she has directed numerous women's choirs while working as a piano teacher and educational coordinator at the école de musique intercommunale du Frontonnais.
COMPOSER In his introduction, Philippe Granarolo recalled the words spoken about fifteen years ago by André Peyregne, an eminent musicologist, during the Salon Littéraire de la ville de Nice, where he was then Director of the Conservatoire: “If Nietzsche had devoted himself entirely to music, he would have been the greatest composer of the late 19th century”!
Nietzsche's music is still confidential, and Florence Schaaff is one of the very few performers of the philosopher's compositions. Her lecture presented the major stages of Nietzsche's musical life, the influences he experienced, and the quality of his compositions. On the piano made available to UTL6 by the Conservatoire de La Garde, she performed some of the greatest pieces composed by the philosopher throughout her presentation.
Each musical interlude was greeted with long applause from the audience, won over by Nietzsche's music and the quality of the pianist's performances.
Then, Florence Schaaff handed the microphone over to Philippe Granarolo. A first time regarding the philosopher Schopenhauer, whose influence on the young Nietzsche was decisive. He synthesized, as only he can, the doctrine of this philosopher, considered THE philosopher of music.
And a second time regarding Nietzsche's tumultuous relationship with Wagner, from whom Nietzsche had the greatest difficulty detaching himself.
The two and a half hours of this musical lecture did not seem too long to the audience. It is true that Florence Schaaff's brilliant pianistic interludes enchanted the public. And the originality of the subject captivated the many listeners.
They shared that Florence Schaaff and her partner-in-crime Philippe Granarolo had opened up new horizons for them.
Photos DR.